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Warner toasts unlikely milestone

A year ago, one simple decision rolled into a lifestyle change for Aussie opener

Australia vice-captain David Warner is 17 days from celebrating an unlikely anniversary.

On May 20, Warner will complete a whole year without consuming alcohol, minus the one sip of Crown Golden Ale he begrudgingly swallowed after he was awarded the Allan Border Medal in February.

While Warner's past may suggest he's gone cold turkey to avoid similar instances to the one he found himself in three years ago in a Birmingham nightclub, the 29-year-old said it was a personal challenge that drove the self-imposed booze ban.

WATCH: Wonderful Warner does it again

"It was about seeing if I could go a month without having a drink and giving myself the best chance to go out and do my business," Warner told cricket.com.au.

"It helps having your wife (Candice) be pregnant as well because you can do the same thing together.

"It went nine months then it kept on going.

"I didn't really feel like one, it wasn't even in my mind.

"I usually have a night cap here and there, especially before a game to ease the nerves a bit.

"It was more just a thing I wanted to do, a bit of a challenge."

WATCH: Warner leads Sunrisers to comprehensive win

However, Warner said he was willing to park his personal prohibition to one side if Australia had been successful in breaking a couple of droughts of their own.

"Mind you, I had goals; if we had have won the Ashes I was going to have a drink, if we won the T20 World Cup I would have had a drink," he said.

"It's just been one of those things – I haven't had the chance to do that and I haven't been able to break it."

Warner's first aim is to reach the 12-months mark in two-and-a-half weeks, but there is no end date for when he can blow the top off a cold one.

He hasn't endured this journey alone, with Test paceman Peter Siddle abstaining from alcohol for more than three years.

While Siddle is now well known for his vegan diet, love of animals and decision not to touch a drink, it took some time for Warner to convince his peers he was a temporary teetotaller.

WATCH: Warner's epic Test-best 253

"Those first initial couple of months, it was like, 'When are you going to have a drink?' and I was like, 'I don't have to'.

"I don't need to have a drink to enjoy myself. I think it's more the guys are not familiar with me not drinking.

"I'm pretty much the same person. The last year I haven't changed, I'm still hyperactive as it is, and try to bring that energy to everyone."

Whether it be coincidence or not, Warner has been in sensational form in the past year.

In Test cricket he scored four centuries in 15 matches and averaged 55, while in one-day internationals his average has ballooned from his career mark of 37.86 to 61.

With an ODI tri-series coming up in June, followed by a full tour to Sri Lanka, Warner might wait a little longer to taste the sponsor's product if his purple patch continues.